


Valentine's Day

by koalathebear



Series: Fragments Prism [10]
Category: Homeland
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Post-Canon, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-15
Updated: 2014-02-15
Packaged: 2018-01-12 11:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1185710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalathebear/pseuds/koalathebear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a silly little scribble in response to a prompt by mytimeoftheyear who said: <i>How about: “The other half were not convinced and laying bets about when the pair would hook up” :)</i></p><p>Haha.  Can't believe you prompted me with something <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/1146320">out of one of my own fics</a> :)  </p><p>We learn what Carrie and Quinn think about Valentine's Day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Valentine's Day

The figures sitting around the table in the meeting room were in varying positions. Fara, sat straight and attentive as always, Quinn looked relaxed but alert, drinking from time to time from his cup of coffee. Max slouched in his seat looking bored. Virgil looked nervous and apprehensive. 

Terry one of the newer security consultants deployed by Saul's firm looked a little ill at ease. It wasn't easy joining an already established team and there was certainly a camaraderie and ease amongst the existing members of the team. The only other 'newcomer' was Aden, a case officer fluent in Farsi, Arabic and Turkish. Tall, thin, dark eyed and serious, he was conscientious and well-mannered.

As the team's leader, Carrie sat at the head of the table with Quinn at her right and Fara at her left. 

"The latest update thanks to information from Quinn and Fara is that Thirwat Shihata, a senior al-Qaeda figure with close ties to the terrorist group’s current leader has left Iran, where he's been living for years after fleeing American forces in Afghanistan in 2001."

Carrie glanced at Fara who cleared her throat, gave a nervous smile and started to speak. "Shihata is a a 53-year-old Egyptian and he was the deputy of Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s current leader, when he ran Egyptian Islamic Jihad before it formally joined forces with Osama bin Laden in 1998. He's one of the few remaining members of al-Qaeda’s old guard. His ties to Zawahiri extend back decades, as both men cut their teeth in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Shihata has kept a low profile in recent years, but there’s no question that he’s one of the more seasoned terrorists at large today.”

"Quinn?" Carrie invited when Fara stopped speaking. Quinn put his coffee down. "Following September 11, dozens of al-Qaeda fighters, including some senior personnel, fled to Iran. It's never been clear how much freedom of movement they enjoyed while in the country, but it looks like the welcome's over for some. Shihata is the latest suspected terrorist to leave Iran. As you all know, in the past two years, up to a dozen key figures have left Iran, and two — Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, accused in the 1998 East Africa embassy bombings, and Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law and former spokesman — have ended up in U.S. custody."

"What's Iran's motives for allowing or forcing the departure of a al-Qaeda members that it's been sheltering over the past decade?" Terry asked.

"We don't know," Carrie told him honestly. "It's possible that Javadi's had a say – but we can't be sure. We believe that Shihata's gone to Libya."

"Iran may realise that it's lost the opportunity to capitalise on its high value guest and the   
strategic rationale for keeping them has decreased over time. Shihata may have outstayed his welcome. Our intell shows that he had ties to a terror suspect in Canada who was suspected of serving as “a communications conduit for terrorist cells” that carried out the Africa bombings."

"I know that we've all been working with our sources in the field to get more intel about what's going on, with this we were able to get a head's up before it hit the media – so please, keep up the good work."

Carrie and Quinn walked over to the whiteboard where a list of other key suspects was listed and spoke in low voices.

Meanwhile the others continued to sit at the table and raid the meeting mints in the bowls before them. With such an early morning meeting, not many of them had had the opportunity to have breakfast.

"So what's the deal with them?" Terry asked in a low and curious voice indicating Carrie and Quinn who were debating something animatedly while Carrie was stabbing her finger at one of the names on the white board. "Half of the embassy staff thinks that they're fucking."

"Definitely something going on," Virgil told him.

"It's none of our business," Fara said primly.

"Who cares?" Max demanded, pulling a face.

"They're still at the courtship phase, nothing's happened yet," Aden said unexpectedly.

"You really think that?" Fara asked in surprise and then clapped her hand over her mouth in consternation.

"Some of the embassy guys are running a betting pool."

"That's just offensive," Fara said disapprovingly.

"They're just bored," Virgil reassured her. "Harmless fun."

"How much have you got in it?" Max demanded.

"I'd rather not say," Virgil confessed, looking embarrassed.

Carrie and Quinn glanced over at the group. "What are you guys talking about – you look like you're plotting a damned coup," Carrie remarked, staring at their guilty faces.

"Um … we … were just wondering what you guys were doing for Valentine's Day," Terry said nonchalantly to the horror of the others in the group.

The look of baffled confusion on both Quinn and Carrie's faces was almost identical. They exchanged glances. "Who the fuck celebrates Valentine's Day?" Quinn muttered as he and Carrie walked out the door.

"Fucking commercial propaganda," Carrie agreed.

"Maybe it's time to get some clarity on the issue once and for all," Virgil mused.

"You must have a lot of money at stake," Aden said with amusement on his usually grave features.

"Work with me here," Virgil told him reprovingly.

*

By evening, it was a subdued group that reassembled in the staff lounge to discuss the day's happenings.

"Things didn't quite go to plan, huh?" Aden commented.

"No shit," Terry muttered. 

"Hey the flowers to Carrie were your idea," Virgil said accusingly.

The plan had been simple. Anonymous flowers delivered to Carrie – if she automatically looked towards Quinn or Quinn looked particularly expectant, then this would be evidence supporting the contention that the two had become an item. 

Instead, Carrie had looked horrified and Quinn concerned and the flowers had been sent to security to be examined for listening devices and then incinerated - after being thoroughly doused with foam.

"You're lucky they didn't call the bomb squad and explode the flowers," Fara pointed out. The chocolates delivered to Quinn had met a similar fate – whisked off to security in case they were poisoned - after also being thoroughly doused with foam.

"Waste of perfectly good chocolates," Max mourned.

"So much for proof," Terry commented gloomily.

*

"Weird day," Carrie remarked as she and Quinn sat on the rug of the library room playing with the baby.

"Yeah," Quinn agreed, smiling as the baby rolled over and gave a delighted chuckle of triumph at her achievement.

"Did you see the card that came with the flowers? _Will you be my Valentine?_ Like I'm going to say yes to some fucking freak who sends me flowers anonymously," Carrie muttered, reaching out and brushing the hair from her daughter's eyes at the same time Quinn reached out to move the hair out of Carrie's eyes.

"My card was worse – _Roses are red, violets are blue, I hope you know that I'm nuts about you_." The revulsion on Quinn's face was matched by Carrie's.

"Geez Quinn – do you think that they were sent by the same maniac?"

"No idea – let's see what the report from security has to say," he told her, picking up the baby, standing up and stretching out a hand to pull her to her feet.

"You ever sent a Valentine's Day gift, Quinn?" Carrie asked curiously.

"Fuck no," he told her emphatically.

"Me neither," she told him and they both shuddered in revulsion.


End file.
